Well, Wichita is back in the news again, back in full effect from the woman who died while watching The Passion. So Wichita’s back — even ranking a MetaFilter post — and it doesn’t have a connection to religion (at least one currently known). You just don’t get it — can’t Wichita get noticed for something positive?
So every armchair detective is filling message boards (not necessarily MeFi, but Yahoo and the Wichita Eagle’s) with the obvious statements, so allow me to make the unobvious and absurd statements, as it’s what I do best.
1. This must be related to the violence in video games.
Since the first murders occured in 1974, the violence inherent in Pong cannot be overemphasized. Of course, the last murder was in 1986, when the NES came out and BTK could enjoy Duck Hunt in the privacy of his own home. With less self-censoring consoles (Nintendo’s focus on the family vs. Sega’s focus on the more mature gamer), BTK could satisfy his need for letter writing and murder at the same time with one of the best games ever, Typing of the Dead.
So why resurface now? There’s still violence aplenty in video games, what with Manhunt and The Suffering. Perhaps he’s anxious for GTA: San Andreas and is just jerking people around until then. Or he’s really pissed that Gran Turismo 4 STILL isn’t out.
2. Maybe somebody made him go see The Passion of the Christ
And lo and behold, instead of it being the best thing since sliced bread, all the violence trigged the memories of the joy he felt while torturing others.
3. Seeing Janet Jackson’s nipple decoration rereleased the anger. It’s all that smut on TV, you know, that causes these problems. It’s that Howard Stern, Bono, and oh, and probably some of those file-swapping college students too. They’re all to blame. Oh and those gay marriages in San Francisco!
What irritates me is that BTK, whenever he is caught (as he likely will be, with his hubris being his downfall, or he will manage to let his identity be known after his death for “immortal” fame without consequences) will turn into a tool for an agenda of some sort. If they find a copy of GTA: Vice City in his house, will the Kansas Legislature attempt to ban M-rated video games? If they find a Bible, the media won’t say a thing at all even though there’s plenty of violence in it too.
A move to ban M-rated video games wouldn’t surprise me, but I think that some businesses might have something to say about it and that seems to be the only way that anything gets done in politics these days.
See how easy it is to go from serial killer to politics these days? Even I do it.
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